Star Wars: Squadrons

Star Wars: Squadrons is a space combat simulator in which the player sits in the cockpits of iconic Star Wars starfighters, such as the X-wing or the TIE fighter, and with full PSVR support experiences battles from the pilot's point of view, surrounded by control panels and a view of the surrounding chaos of battle. The game offers a campaign told from the perspective of both warring sides of the conflict, the New Republic and the Imperial remnants, and supplements it with an extensive competitive multiplayer mode, in which teams of pilots fight in large-scale, tactical battles that require managing power between weapons, shields, and engines. Controls can be handled with a standard controller or a flight stick, while VR adds the ability to physically look around the cockpit and track opponents with peripheral vision, which significantly improves situational awareness during fast maneuvers.

The visual and audio presentation faithfully follows the aesthetic of the film series — the sound of proton torpedoes, the roar of laser cannons, and the characteristic beeping of onboard systems create an exceptionally authentic sense of presence in a starfighter's cockpit within the headset. The cockpits of the individual ships are modeled in detail and are functional, so the player can track damage, shield status, and power distribution directly on the onboard displays in front of them, which in VR reinforces the feeling of actually piloting the machine. Battles take place across varied environments, from open space to fields full of asteroids and ship wrecks, which add visual depth and tactical hiding opportunities to the combat.

At launch, the game was hailed as one of the best space simulators of recent years, and its full VR support on console, not just on PC, was praised as an unusually generous move for a budget-priced title. Star Wars: Squadrons has become one of the reference points in discussions of how well VR can enhance the feeling of sitting in a cockpit and physically piloting a spacecraft, and for Star Wars fans it was one of the most authentic ways to become a pilot in the galactic conflict.

Why play it: For fans of Star Wars and space simulators craving the feeling of sitting in a starfighter's cockpit — full VR support on console is an unusually generous move for a budget-priced title.